Sleeper hit Anodyne’s sequel makes the leap to 3D

Following up on a series of teaser images, today developer Sean Han Tani announced a sequel to 2013’s Anodyne, calling it a “surreal, lo-fi 3D + 2D game.” Joni Kittaka, who worked on the original’s art and writing, is also working on the sequel. While the original went for a top-down 16-bit aesthetic, Anodyne 2: Return to Dust looks straight out of the early Playstation era, though it seems like it will play out in a similarly menacing, beautiful dreamscape.

Play as Nova, the Nano Cleaner, who is tasked with collecting dangerous Nano Dust growing throughout New Theland, which then must be returned for recycling to a mysterious entity, only known as the “Center”.

Walk or ride across a lush, moody world. Discover strange characters and places. Shrink into characters and collect Nano Dust through 2D vignette-style gameplay, reminiscent of Anodyne’s gameplay and more.

The original Anodyne was the definition of a cult classic, flying under the radar for the most part but gathering ardent devotees among the people who played it. Anodyne is often described as some variation of “surreal Zelda,” which isn’t entirely off the mark, but it’s a much funnier, creepier, more melancholy game than that would suggest.

It’s unclear how closely connected Anodyne 2 will be to its predecessor. The game’s Steam page claims that “much like Final Fantasy, there’s no need to play Anodyne 1 to understand Anodyne 2’s story,” suggesting that it may be more of a spiritual successor than a direct sequel.

Anodyne 2 is set for an early 2019 release through Steam and itch.io, but you can sign up for updates through the developer’s newsletter now.